丢失的比特币是什么？
当资产所有者无法对其进行控制时，比特币就被认为在区块链上丢失了。
比特币（BTC）是一种去中心化的数字货币，它将其记录存储在一组分布式节点中，这些节点共同代表公共分类账，也称为区块链。在比特币区块链上，私人钱包用户拥有一个公共地址，同时持有私钥，使他们能够控制该地址内持有的资产。
BTC的流通量只能是2100万个；这是在协议中设计和编码的。比特币的设计是通货紧缩的，在一段时间内，资产的稀缺性会增加。比特币的价值在一定程度上是通过对可能存在的比特币总量的最大限制以及定期减少给予矿工将新比特币投入流通的奖励（通过比特币减半）来维持的。
任何丢失的比特币都会进一步加剧通货紧缩过程，并导致可用比特币的稀缺。考虑到钱包可能真的处于休眠状态，很难估计丢失的比特币的确切数量。
然而，根据区块链数据平台 Chainaanalysis 的研究，比特币总供应量的 17% - 23% 可能会丢失，范围在 278 万到 379 万个 BTC 之间。据推测，比特币创造者中本聪的钱包中还持有高达 100 万枚来自早期挖矿奖励的 BTC，占这些丢失或休眠比特币的一定比例。
比特币怎么会丢失呢？
比特币可能因用户错误或第三方通过诈骗、黑客或社交工程进行的恶意行为而丢失。
下面列出了一些潜在的场景：
私钥泄露
疏忽、成为社会工程的受害者或被黑客攻击等安全故障可能会导致私钥受损，从而使不良行为者窃取人们的比特币。这可能是任何网络钓鱼、恶意软件或其他欺诈场景的一部分。
发送到错误的网络
令人惊讶的是，在转移 BTC 时，这种情况经常发生；如果用户错误地将其发送到错误的网络或无效的地址（缺少数字等），则完全无法恢复。由于比特币生态系统中序数的出现，这一点变得更加重要，因为一些钱包的地址与标准 BTC 地址不同。
发送到错误的地址
在转移BTC时，如果用户将其发送到错误的地址，则恢复起来可能会非常困难。首先，关键问题是确定转账的真正接收者，然后有一个合理的机制来请求回报，这在去中心化的生态系统中非常困难。
钱包受损
If a user’s Bitcoin wallet is damaged or corrupted for any reason, they could potentially lose access to their BTC. However, there is no issue if the user has the private key; a new wallet can be set up again and restored with the private key.
User abandonment
Many dormant addresses on BTC have never had any activity for many reasons. One reason could be that owners have forgotten their private keys and cannot access their Bitcoin, leading to irretrievable Bitcoin on the blockchain.
They could have potentially discarded their old computers, hardware wallets or deleted recovery files, which minimizes their options for restoring prior access.
Inheritance issues
This is another form of user abandonment. The private key owners might have sadly passed away, with no one else having access to the original private keys, leading to forgotten crypto holdings. This could happen for both private wallets and accounts on centralized exchanges if there is no clear nomination process set up or available for the next of kin.
Enforcement actions
Users can also lose their Bitcoin due to asset forfeiture by government authorities. These would be targeted actions based on the law, and in the case of private wallets, users would still be required to hand over their private keys for enforcement action to proceed.
Centralized exchange hacks
Centralized exchanges that hold user assets are also at risk of being hacked or losing assets due to insolvency, resulting in users not having access to their assets.
Consequences of lost Bitcoin
With increasing institutional awareness and interest, Bitcoin is gaining more recognition as digital gold and a store of value. Any lost Bitcoin can represent a severe loss of wealth for users over the coming decades.
Bitcoin has existed since 2009, and there is a general consensus among experts that it holds a unique position among digital currencies as a store of value. The launch of Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has brought tremendous institutional liquidity and interest into Bitcoin. These factors have led many experts to predict significant valuations for Bitcoin a decade from now.
Users who have lost their BTC forever with no possibility of recovery may struggle with guilt and self-blame. There is generally a focus on narratives around gains and wins; however, losses like these, sadly, are also part of engaging with the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The industry should focus on multisig and innovative wallet solutions that can reduce the possibility of such losses for users in the future. These would help reduce fraud and accidental loss of keys and, in turn, encourage wider adoption.
The deflationary nature of Bitcoin adds complexity. All the lost BTC accelerates the scarcity of available units. Unlike some speculators, institutions and high-net-worth individuals tend to take long-term positions in Bitcoin rather than engage in frequent trading. The combined effect of these factors suggests a trend toward increased Bitcoin scarcity and potentially higher prices in the future.
Can lost Bitcoin be recovered?
All hope is not lost for users who have lost their assets; however, whether any Bitcoin can be recovered depends on the combination of what’s available to reconstruct and the background to the loss.
Here are a few potential avenues for users to explore to recover lost Bitcoin:
Data recovery services
Some firms specialize in the recovery of users’ lost cryptocurrencies. They usually deal with scenarios around drive issues or hardware failure, forgotten passwords, wallet corruption, data loss or incorrect recipients. They offer a variety of techniques, from brute force reconstruction of partial or entire seed phrases to reconstructing wallets, forgetting passwords, guessing and retrieving keys stored on a hard drive.
They generally tend to have a higher success rate when access to an existing computer or device allows these firms to reverse engineer access. Considering the cryptographic principles behind Bitcoin, a complete reconstruction of a forgotten seed phrase is extremely difficult with today’s computational abilities.
Users must exercise caution and deal with reputed firms with verifiable reviews and a track record of success, as many of the services could also be outright scams or overpriced with no tangible returns.
Private investigation firms
These are usually involved in the case of hacks or scams that concern a large amount of money, have a vast array of investigative tools at their disposal and, in many cases, tend to collaborate with law enforcement authorities to pursue bad actors and retrieve some of the stolen Bitcoin. These are viable alternatives for users who have lost a significant amount of assets and would prefer to try and recover the lost assets.
What are the safest ways to store Bitcoin?
Cold storage, strong security practices and personal control of one’s private keys are essential for safe Bitcoin storage.
Using “cold storage,” which keeps private keys offline, helps store Bitcoin safely and prevent cyber threats. A hardware wallet is the most widely used cold storage solution, allowing transactions and providing superior security.
Alternatively, for the highest level of protection, one may consider paper wallets, which print keys on paper. Regardless of the method used, it is imperative to have numerous secure backups of private keys.
无论用户喜欢软件钱包还是硬件钱包，他们都应该做好功课并选择值得信赖的选项。交易所可能不是存储大量资金的可行媒介，因为它们很容易成为黑客的目标。最终，网络钓鱼诈骗意识和良好的密码卫生为比特币持有提供额外的保护。
